I'm not really shure if your problem is that you hear nothing while recording of that you just don't hear the effects (LADSPA or VST Plugins).

1. In the "Options" tab, there is an options called something like "deactivate plugins while recording" (just a rough translation, I use Ardour in german. Maybe this options ic activated, probably this is good for better performance. Deactivate it and you should hear all effects while recording.

2. You can adjust the level of the input signal for your headphone mix with the volume bars in the corresponding channels, just as you would mix something already recorded.

3. Write again if your problem is that you don't hear yourself at all while recording. Normally you hear all input signals which are recorded. You don't hear input signals which aren't recorded while recording. The Mute and Solo buttons can be used to monitor single input channels while recording, though still all enabled channels are recorded (even if muted for your headphone mix). Hope that wasn't too complicated ;)

Thanks for the kind response. I finally figured out that I could use a bus channel to monitor and apply fx to the input signal while recording. I was so happy with the results I wrote a blurb about it in the Tips and Tricks section!

My problem was more in the lines of option #3 in your post. I'll try playing with the solo/mute buttons to see if they change things. It's good to know as many ways to do things as possible.